Shareefa

New Jersey native Shareefa Cooper is riding high thanks to the startling success of her debut album, Point Of No Return. "From the first time I stepped into the studio, it was my goal to try and make classic material," she says.

SEX APPEAL

Shareefa is first and foremost about her music. That’s why you won’t see her flaunting her sexuality like some of her more promiscuous peers. “I just feel like I need to be myself,” she explains.

Nonetheless, this singer knows exactly what she wants in a man. “[I’m looking for] a go-getter,” she says. “Someone who has my back, no matter what, and loves me for me.” That’s especially evident on her song “Need A Boss,” in which she addresses her affinity for rough and rugged men. “I need somebody that’s real gangsta,” she sings. “I need a pappy, somebody I call daddy.”

SUCCESS

Shareefa has shown that she has the chops to belong thanks to the startling success of her debut album, Point Of No Return. Released on October 24, 2006, this 15-track masterpiece debuted at No. 25 on the Billboard 200 thanks to slick, soulful tracks like “Need A Boss” and “Cry No More.” ContactMusic.com praised the album as being “a solid set from a true quality, edgy R&B superstar,” and Stylus Magazine called Point Of No Return, “a solid debut album, and above par for contemporary R&B.”

Shareefa has also appeared on the compilation CD Ludacris Presents… Disturbing Tha Peace and Shawnna’s 2006 chart-topper, Block Music.

Shareefa Biography

Shareefa Cooper was born on January 1, 1984, in East Orange, New Jersey. A true music fan from an early age, she recalls idolizing the industry’s R&B pioneers. "I can remember taping the tributes to Smokey Robinson and Gladys Knight that were on the Soul Train Awards," she says. "I would be rewinding them all the time, practicing those routines until I knew them by heart. In the same way Patti LaBelle could make the hair stand up on my arms with her voice, I wanted to be able to do the same thing."

Although Shareefa may now be carrying LaBelle’s torch, it took her a while to get her own life sorted out. The trouble began when Shareefa moved with her mother and two siblings to Charlotte, North Carolina, when she was 15. "I just started acting out and being disobedient," she says. Her need for attention eventually led her to court, where she was nearly sent away for grand theft auto. Luckily, the experience provided her with a much-needed wakeup call and she began straightening herself out.

shareefa signs with disturbing tha peace

She also found a more productive outlet for her energy the next year when she was introduced to famed hip-hop producer Teddy Riley. "At the time, Teddy was putting together a girl group, but he decided work with me as a soloist instead," she says.

Although their collaboration failed to result in a record deal, Riley helped shape Shareefa into the polished singer and songwriter she is today. He also taught her the intricacies of the business and, before long, her 12-song demo landed in the hands of Jeff Dixon, the co-CEO of Disturbing Tha Peace Records, the label founded by Ludacris. "Jeff liked what he heard, but he still had me audition for him," Shareefa says. "Right on the sidewalk on 114th Street in Harlem, and I sang on the spot."

The audition turned out to be a formality and Shareefa was signed to Disturbing Tha Peace later that day. Since joining the family, she has appeared on 2005’s Ludacris Presents… Disturbing Tha Peace and she was featured on Shawnna’s sizzling 2006 release Block Music.

shareefa releases point of no return

Of course, all of that was just a warm up for her own debut album, Point Of No Return. Released on October 24, 2006, the 15-track album debuted at No. 25 on the Billboard 200, thanks to red-hot singles like “Need A Boss” (featuring Ludacris) and “Cry No More.” “It's like a bowl of your favorite gumbo," Shareefa says of her debut. “It's raw, it's uncut, it's straightforward."